TNPL 2019: Ravi Ashwin unveils his mystery ball again, gets a wicket

Ravi Ashwin is known for trying out new things with the ball in hand and even the ongoing Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) is not an exception to it. He is leading the Dindigul Dragons in the competition and the team has won both the matches so far in the tournament. On Monday, they defeated the defending champions Madurai Panthers by 30 runs and with the result of the game being a foregone conclusion, Ashwin tried his cheeky action in the final over.

The skipper bowled the last over of the innings with 32 runs to defend with the opposition seven down. Ashwin struck off the first ball by removing the dangerous Abhishek Tanwar and then it was about going through the motions for both the teams. However, with two balls to go, the bowler tried his mystery action which he did in the first game as well.

Ashwin, in his run-up, hid the ball behind his back. He also kept his non-bowling arm motionless and flighted the ball with almost no speed. The batsman, Kiran Akash, looked surprised and seeing the flight, he backed himself to clear the boundary. But the ball could only reach the long-on fielder and Ashwin got a wicket with his mystery action.

Here’s the video:

Dragons’ clinical performance

Madurai Panthers opted to bowl first after winning the toss and soon they found out, it was a mistake. The Dragons’ openers N Jagadeesan and Hari Nishanth got the team off to a brilliant start by adding 104 runs in 13.2 overs. The latter scored an attractive half-century before getting out. But Jagadeesan carried on and remained unbeaten until the end scoring 87 off just 51 deliveries with 12 fours and a solitary six.

Dindigul Dragons ended up on 182 runs for the loss of six wickets after 20 overs and it was always going to be an uphill task for the Panthers. They were in the game in the first six overs but kept losing the wickets at regular intervals. M Silambarasan and Ravi Ashwin bowled exceptionally well to return with the figures of 4/20 and 3/16 respectively as the Dragons sealed the game by 30 runs.